Breaking The Case of Lightning Whelk Eggs

I wasn’t able to enjoy the shelling while the super moon tides were at the lowest this weekend since I was tied up with other “stuff”. But high on the wrack line there are still so many LIGHTNING WHELK EGG CASES on the east end beaches of Sanibel.

Since I’ve been dissecting some of the BEACH BLING I’ve found over the last week (like the SEA WHIPS), I decided to go ahead and open up one of the dried out LIGHTNING WHELK EGG “disks”.

There are teeny tiny little LIGHTNING WHELK shells in some of the disks.

Isn’t that just a wonder? Talk about miniatures!

There can be up to 40 babies in each capsule. Isn’t that incredible?

I didn’t find that many discs with baby WHELKS in them in this case because it looks like most of them “hatched” already. You can see a little round hole on top side of the discs… this is escape hatch! They use this when they are ready to explore their brave new world.

Just to show you how teeny tiny the WHELKS I popped out of the case were, I’ve added one of these little juvies in this Wheel of Whelks surrounding a penny.

thank you again Pam, you are my eyes on the beach. I always wait to see the treasures of the ocean you find.
I envy you so much, the tide has its highest. turtles that are beginning to nest, and always new discoveries of shells, walk the beach in peace. Thank you for sharing

Janet from IL
on May 7, 2012 at 12:02 pm

Pam,
Thank you so much for taking time to post the pictures of the “shell babies” even when you weren’t able to shell this weekend. What a joy to see God’s miracles from the sea. Have a great day!

Sanibelle
on May 7, 2012 at 4:57 pm

It kind of makes one wonder how many live shells are hatched from one…. pregnancy? Well, egg casing anyway. Thanks for the info, teach!

Speaking of bling, this afternoon I absent mindedly picked up an old fossil shell I had sitting on my desk and I realized that the meat was fossilized along with the shell. It’s almost fully exposed because the protective shell was worn away or broken off. I wonder how often that happens!

Lee Garrett
on May 7, 2012 at 5:03 pm

The “miracle” of nature. Thanks, Pam

Susan H.
on May 7, 2012 at 7:07 pm

Wow Pam, I love the wheel of whelks!

And a great photo of the tiny baby whelks fresh out of the egg case!

Sherri Bode
on May 7, 2012 at 7:59 pm

Great post! love the wheel of whelks! Sherri from MN

Nancy from MA
on May 7, 2012 at 11:19 pm

Pam,
I have appreciated the beauty of shells since picking up my first shell at Seaside Heights, NJ at age four. Since discovering your site in December, I am now fascinated with shells and all that I’m learning about them from you. Thanks for running this Website. I’m always delighted when I find a new posting!

Tracly
on May 8, 2012 at 8:46 am

I also love the little miniatures inside the cases, if you go to the shell store , they sell little square boxes with magnifiers on top so you can see the details on them better. So cool to have and show guests when they come over to your house. I was there yesterday afternoon around 1-3 but the tide was still too high, i wanted to stay till 7 so i could get to that SUPER low tide but had to return to gainesville. I looked for wentle traps but still couldn’t find any! UGH!!!

jackie
on May 8, 2012 at 10:38 am

Amazing ! thanks for posting !

Janet from IL
on May 8, 2012 at 10:56 am

Congratulations!!

Katherine Haskins
on May 8, 2012 at 12:27 pm

You sure have the luck!!!! But then, you do get more BEACH time than most of us. lol Congratulations!

lulubell
on May 8, 2012 at 12:44 pm

Wow is right! What a wonderful shelling experience…hope to have a similar experience some day..

Sandra Goode
on May 8, 2012 at 3:11 pm

Yes, Pam, it IS “just a wonder.”

yvonne
on May 8, 2012 at 5:35 pm

Poor Babies…….

Sue
on May 8, 2012 at 8:17 pm

I love shots of the whelk casings! Whelks are my favorite shell, and it was amazing to see their beginnings! Thanks!

Barbara L.I. NY
on May 8, 2012 at 11:50 pm

We were lucky to be on Sanibel for the super moon and the shelling was great after it. I was very lucky to have found a a large horse conch on a sand bar by access #3 and a smaller one too. My hubby was fishing when he spotted a large whelk also on the sand bar and picked that up too.
It was a great 5 days on Sanibel.

Linda
on May 9, 2012 at 1:37 am

Years ago I met a woman would collect these, and other egg cases, and use the tiny baby shells to make the sailors valentines. Kind of wondering if these babies have any chance of survival if the tide were to carry them back out to the water? Great pics of the babies! Thank you soooooo much.

Donnie
on May 9, 2012 at 7:16 am

That’s a great question…I have thrown a lot of egg casings back in the water only to see them float back to shore again…I think nature taking it’s course. There are so many Whelks and Florida Fighting conchs here to be found daily and I hope it always stays that way.I have seen literally hundreds of live Whelks over 10 inches or larger on the sand bars.

Barbara L.I. NY
on May 9, 2012 at 6:25 pm

Yes, it was the right place. I couldn’t believe it myself when I saw the horse conch I was so excited. This was our 4th trip to Sanibel and we’re now looking to buy a place there.

Hi Pam!
As soon as I could get one would be awesome! I’d love to take a trip to Sanibel Island but am too busy trying to get the museum open!

Thank you so much for looking!

Amelia
on October 7, 2012 at 12:01 pm

Hi Pam
I just found my first lightning whelk egg casing today on Oak Island Beach, NC…thanks for the info
Amelia

Dawn
on September 9, 2015 at 2:13 pm

I’m trying to figure out if seashells are formed by mollusks secretions how does that explain these egg casings and tiny baby Welk Shells this type of thing fascinates me and I’m so curious how that works I have two types of wealth and casings the chain type 1 and the Neptune egg capsules which is in a bigger clump not necessarily in the form of a chain both having tiny welk shells in them I would welcome any input on this subject and appreciate it